This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Wednesday the 26th of June

these are our main stories. Kenya's president has accused criminals

of hijacking huge protests against tax rises during which parliament

buildings were set on fire and five people were shot dead by police.

The 14-year legal battle of Julian Assange is drawing to a close with the WikiLeaks founder

having arrived in court on a remote US island in the Pacific for a brief court

hearing. A trial has started in Ecuador of five people charged with killing a

presidential candidate last year. Also in this podcast, the letter signed by Albert Einstein is a version of one sent to President Roosevelt,

written in 1939.

The document which warns about the danger of nuclear bombs is up for sale.

The Kenyan President William Ruto has described violence during huge protests against

tax rises as an unprecedented attack on the country's democracy.

Medics say at least five people were shot dead by police in

Nairobi as protesters broke through cordons. Parts of the Parliament complex and City Hall

was set alight. In a televised address Mr. Ruto expressed determination to combat

violence.

It is very painful for Kenya that a conversation this crucial was hijacked by dangerous people who have cost us the kind of loss

we have incurred as a nation today. I assure the nation of the government's

determination to fulfill its constitutional duty of protecting the people of Kenya against all forms of

harm.

Our Africa correspondent Barbara Plet, Usher, is in Nairobi and assesses the protests and the effect on the country.

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